UCU Scotland’s Congress was held in Clydebank on March 22nd 2024 during which Jo Grady, the union General Secretary addressed delegates. Douglas Chalmers, local branch president and who was one of the delegates, together with Lyle Gray, Karen Lorimer and Laura Bailie, took advantage of Jo’s presence to ask her to say some words to the local branch.

Here’s what she said on the basis of getting involved and making UCU@GCU really reflective of what you want as a union member:

In addition, Douglas took the opportunity to record a short message from NUS Scotland President Ellie Gommersal who had just given a fantastic speech which dealt amongst other things with the dreadful situation students are facing regarding housing.

Here are some of the points Ellie made to Douglas:

According to Ellie, 12 percent of student in Scotland experience homelessness sometime during the period of their studies which meant real issues for students performing well. It was also surely a factor in the rising number of students suffering mental health issues in these conditions.

Ellie argued that the Scottish government needed to make rent controls cover Student accommodation, in the way it was planned for this to happen in relation to private rented accommodation. Otherwise giving students money for maintenance support with no controls meant it just goes into the pockets of landlords…..

For International Students, homeless rates are more in the region of 22 percent – and international students are not as eligible for hardship funds in the way that domestic or UK students may be

Ellie suggested that the area of student accomodation was one where branches should try to step up their work and aim to work together with students in a consistent manner.

Details of the Congress

The Congress met in Clydebank and during a packed agenda debated and passed motions on the following topics:

In support of Modern Languages at Aberdeen University; Condemning Proposed changes at the University of Aberdeen; Action on Green Issues; The Availability and Flexibility of UCU Training; UKRI timesheet requirements; The Campaign for a sustainable student distribution system for Scotland; Protecting foreign national workers and PGR students; UCU’s future bargaining strategy (this was a composite from ourselves and Glasgow UCU); Repeal the IHRA definition of antisemitism and defend academic freedom; Palestine and Military Involvement; Military Flights from Prestwick; Supporting Palestinian Scholars and Students; Protecting Free Tuition in Higher Education; Black Lives Matter in Scotland: Justice for Sheku Bayoh; Stand Up to Racism and STUC anti-racism campaigning; Rwanda Bill and the Racist Offensive; Abuse of Women internationally and in Scotland; Palestine and LGBTQ+ Rights; Trans Rights and Representing UCU; Solidarity with UCU Black Workers; Teachers Pension Scheme;

If anyone would like a copy of the above motions, please let us know and we’ll send them on.